Salary, bonuses and benefits
Verified 01 January 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
The amount of the salary is fixed freely during a negotiation between the employer and the employee. However, certain legal and treaty provisions must be respected. Salary consists of all cash payments and in-kind benefits received by the employee.
Salary is freely fixed by the parties. Its modification is forbidden without the employee's consent.
Fixing
The employer and the employee shall jointly determine the amount of the salary in accordance with the following rules:
- Salary cannot be less than Smic: titleContentgross monthly €1,709.28 since 1to May 2022
- The amount of salary must be the same between women and men for equivalent work (principle equal pay for equal work)
It is forbidden to set the salary through electronic auctions.
Please note
in practice, salary negotiations are often expressed in gross wages, that is, the salary before deducting social contributions. The net salary is the salary the employee receives after deducting these amounts.
Change
During the contract, the salary cannot be changed without the employee's consent.
The employee's refusal cannot be a fault.
However, he may be dismissed if the proposed salary change is motivated by a real and serious cause (e.g. economic hardship or disciplinary sanction)
Any clause of automatic salary revision by indexing the evolution of Smic: titleContent is prohibited.
Warning
a deduction from salary may be made in the absence of work provided by the employee (in the event of a strike, for example).
Social contributions on remuneration
For the purpose of calculating social security contributions, all of the following amounts paid to the employee shall form part of the remuneration:
- Wages or earnings
- Paid Leave Allowances
- Allowances, bonuses, bonuses and other cash benefits
- Benefits in kind, commissions and tips
Definition
Premiums and bonuses are in addition to salary.
Payment is compulsory if provided for by one of the following arrangements
- Work Contract
- Collective Agreement
- Usage
- Unilateral undertaking by employer
These amounts are part of the salary. These include, for example:
- Annual premiums and rewards (year-end premiums, 13e months, holidays, balance sheet, participation, etc.)
- Cost-of-living premiums (cost-of-living premiums, productivity premiums, etc.)
- Person-related premiums (attendance, punctuality, seniority, etc.)
- Premiums relating to certain working conditions (hardship, unsafe and unsanitary work, periodic penalty payment, etc.)
Premiums and gratuities are not part of the salary if they are not mandatory. This is the case, for example, of a performance bonus, a variable bonus decided by the employer or the exceptional purchasing power premium.
Social contributions on remuneration
For the purpose of calculating social security contributions, all of the following amounts paid to the employee shall form part of the remuneration:
- Wages or earnings
- Paid Leave Allowances
- Allowances, bonuses, bonuses and other cash benefits
- Benefits in kind, commissions and tips
Definition
Benefits in kind are an element of salary that is not paid in cash (i.e. cash, check or bank transfer).
This is most often the provision of food or the provision of a vehicle or office accommodation.
Benefits are included in salary to calculate the following:
- Monitor compliance Smic: titleContent or the conventional minimum wage
- Determine the amount of compensation to be paid to the employee during his/her paid leave
- Determine notice compensation and termination indemnity
- Determine the amount of social security contributions (social security contributions, CSG and CRDS)
- Determine the amount of income to be reported for income tax purposes
Social contributions on remuneration
For the purpose of calculating social security contributions, all of the following amounts paid to the employee shall form part of the remuneration:
- Wages or earnings
- Paid Leave Allowances
- Allowances, bonuses, bonuses and other cash benefits
- Benefits in kind, commissions and tips
- Labour Code: Articles L3221-1 to L3221-10General principles
- Labour Code: Articles R3231-4 to D3231-6Benefits in kind and salary increases (D3231-6)
- Labour Code: Articles L3231-2 to L3231-3Prohibition of wage indexation (L3231-3)